KAOS: From Zero To I Love You

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F I L M S K O O L

A F I L M I S A P E T R I F I E D F O U N T A I N O F T H O U G H T

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Meet Pete (Darryl Stephens), a guy in Philadelphia with a history of falling for married men. His father (Richard Lawson), and his soon-to-be stepmother (Leslie Zemeckis), want him to find someone single and settle down. Instead Jack - fifteen years into a "perfect marriage", with two kids in tow - walks into his life...

Noah's Arc graduates Darryl Stephens and Doug Spearman reunite, in front of, and behind the camera, respectively, on Spearman's second run at directing a feature (he also directed the 2013 comedy Hot Guys With Guns).

Stephens hasn't exactly been camera shy since Noah's Arc's premature climax, his resume boasting a swathe of mainstream prime time viewing, and gay series like the sadly passed-over DTLA (he's also been working on a series adaptation of 2006's Boy Culture, recreating his role from that movie).

Frankly, I could watch anything with the apparently ageless, engaging and charming Darryl Stephens in it, so I'll try to get through this review with as little bias as possible. But in truth, Spearman has assembled a talented cast that delights from beginning to end. Stephens has palpable chemistry with his handsome co-star, Scott Bailey. Keili Lefkovitz is effervescent in the potentially thankless role of the down-low guy's wife, and Stephen Bowman is a ton of fun as Stephen's best friend. Veteran Richard Lawson - trivia: his first credited role, in 1971, was "Homosexual", in Dirty Harry. He went on to appear in pretty much everything, including Dynasty (1986) and Angry Boys (2011) - plays Stephen's father, who, in a refreshing twist, is a black father who doesn't have a problem with his gay son.

Good gay rom-coms don't come along very often. From Zero To I Love You manages to be hopelessly romantic, a hoot, and genuinely insightful (the damage wrought by Pete and Jack's affair isn't merely brushed under the carpet). If I have one criticism, it's the occasional reference to race. Stephen's character at one point asks why he and his (white) partner don't have any black friends, and is later criticised by a black hook-up. But these tantalising threads are left dangling, unexplored, as if part of an earlier draft where race may have played a bigger part in the narrative.

Surprising, enchanting, and sexy, From Zero To I Love You is a winner. Doug Spearman: what's next?

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"A film is a petrified fountain of thought." Jean Cocteau, French filmmaker, 1889-1963

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